Landing gear retract actuators on most aircraft use adjustable rod ends for cylinder length adjustment. These rod ends have had a history of corrosion problems at the thread engagement. Some have even failed when the corrosion goes unnoticed allowing the landing gear to extend unrestrained. Heretofore, landing gear retract actuators have been adjustable externally because they had to be bottomed when the landing gear was fully extended. This bottomed condition was necessary to prevent inadvertent unlocking of the gear down latch. When the normal hydraulic pressure to extend the landing gear is lost the gear must be extendable by an alternate extension method which is usually "free fall". If the retract actuator is not bottomed under this unpressurized condition, it can act as a pump when the landing gear flexes during normal brake application. The retract actuator and the latch actuator usually are hydraulically plumbed in parallel, so that any pressure generated in the retract actuator is also seen at the latch actuator. In some instances the pressure created by the pumping action of the retract actuator could be sufficient to unlock the latch actuator and allow collapse of the landing gear.
Therefore, there has been a need for a new landing gear retract actuator which does not include external threads and which is designed so that its rod end does not need to be adjusted. There has also been a need to provide such an actuator in which the fatigue loads into the shock strut lug and the upper attachment fitting between which the actuator operates are greatly reduced.